Pet
Overpopulation
Andrew Parker
Kaplan University
Pet Overpopulation
We arrived back at my friend’s
house at about 2 am on a Monday morning, our normal 6-hour journey had taken
almost 8-hours because of the snowy weather.
Often we would visit friends in Kansas
City in late January because everyone was so busy over
the holidays it was easier for our friends to celebrate a late holiday with us.
He unpacked and we said goodbye, with a few inches of snow on the ground, I
preferred to drive the gravel roads home the highways tended to be more
slippery. It was not to cold but it was
windy and I was glad I was familiar with the road, because the wind whipped the
snow making it harder to see so I just stayed in the middle and watched for the
light poles and road markers to keep centered.
They were only 3 stop signs on the side roads back to my place, it
normally took 20 minutes, tonight it was going to take longer, I was in no
hurry and had not come this far to have problems. As I neared the second stop sign, I saw the
familiar bus stop on the corner, as I slowly drove past the bus stop I saw what
looked like a big box with something sticking out of the end. I slowly drove past and up the hill and
watched the object in my rear view mirror, curiosity had got the best of me and
when I came to another road I pulled a U turn to go back and check it out.
I parked near the bus stop and walked
over to the box, I thought I heard something and told myself it was probably
just sounds from the wind. It appeared
to be a metal or plastic crate sticking out of the back of the box, it was
jammed so I yanked hard on the crate while trying to hold the box, it came
loose and needless to say I was lucky not to end up at the bottom of a
ditch. It was wrapped in what looked
like a plastic sheet with a blanket or rug under the plastic, I removed the
ropes that held it in place and heard what I thought were little barks. In the sparse light of the streetlamp I saw
at least 4 little faces and more commotion within, I grabbed the handles and
pulled it over to my car. Raised my
trunk and grabbed a flashlight, 6 puppies in total, kind of looked like little
shepherds, but I was not sure. They were shivering a bit but looked no worse
for wear, there was some dog food and two empty bowls in the bottom of the
crate so I grabbed the blanket and plastic and put it over my backseat and
grabbed 2 or 3 pups at a time and put them in the car. Driving back was pretty strange realizing I
had 6 puppies with me, the only thing I could think was someone abandoned them
there knowing that kids would be coming to the bus stop that morning for school
and would find the pups. As a Dog owner
and animal lover this left a lasting impression on me, my dog at home was in
for quite a surprise. I did keep one
male and my friend I traveled with took a puppy and he was able to get rid of
one other to friends. I was so touched I
would have kept them all if it was possible.
Based on my experience I strongly believe: A free
spay/neuter program should be provided to all pet owners, the goal is to
decrease the amount of unwanted births and raise the animal’s quality of life
and reduce costs for all in the community.
The
focus will be in three main areas, controlling and regulating the population,
increasing quality of life for the animal, and reducing costs for all. #1
Controlling
and regulating the massive numbers of unwanted and abandoned animals
and reducing the amount of unplanned births.
The sheer amount of animals far exceeds the ability to properly care for
them and provide them with a good quality of life. The real problem is supply and demand, it is
a numbers game that the animals are sorely losing, The American Humane
Association, previously the American Humane Society states: “Animal shelters
both public and private, are faced with an incredible burden: What to do with
the overpopulation of dogs and cats that they cannot find homes for.” (AHA,
2013). Approximately 3 million animals a
year are destroyed because of the lack of proper homes and the space and
resources to properly house and care for the animals. ASPCA figures show animal homelessness is a
serious issue, “Each year almost 7.6 million animals enter animal shelters
nationwide and nearly 3 million don’t make it out”. (ASPCA, 2016). They also state: “Only 10% of animals who
enter shelters are spayed or neutered.” (ASPACA, 2016.) This seems like an awfully low number based
on the sheer amounts of animals that are abandoned or stuck in the shelter
system as a last resort for a good life.
#2 Increasing
life quality for animals should be the priority of any health related
program, the large amount of suffering that the animals experience could be
greatly reduced. There are also many
health benefits pets of both sexes can acquire through proper sterilization and
also more control for pet owners and less stray pets causing a nuisance in
public. Both
females and males benefit from being sterilizes, less hormones effect both
sexes and make them easier to control, can also reduce marking and spraying and
can lessen aggressiveness. It can
provide your pets, cats or dogs, a healthier, longer life with reductions in
some cancer and other infections. Three main
reasons to Spay/Neuter: Reducing the
huge overpopulation of dogs and cats, millions of unwanted animals, there just
is not enough homes for these animals, Spay/Neuter
can increase the quality and length of your pet’s life, Sterilizing your pets will make them
easier to control and reduce the problems caused by running free. The goal is to reduce the suffering of dogs
and cats by reducing the sheer number of unwanted animals. Many dogs and cats are destroyed yearly
because of the lack of good owners and proper homes for them, it is strictly a
numbers game and the animals are sadly losing.
#3
Reducing
costs for the pet
owners and the community, also saving time and resources for families, local
pet health centers and city or county shelters and services. I believe by reducing the massive number of
animals that it would save money for owners by reducing problems related to
health and reproduction cycles and the better control the hormones at work on
both sides. The animal would be less
likely to wander and be injured or impounded or impregnated, better control
means less vet bills, less fines and fewer hours spent searching and desperate
to find your pet. It would reduce the
need for more shelters and city and county services and the great amount of
labor hours spent feeding, housing and caring for all the animals. And all the hours spent by animal control and
public and private volunteer agencies that provide some options for these desperate
pets. The ASPCA states, “A key to getting funding for spay/neuter programs from
sources such as city councils, county general funds, health departments, and
other government entities is meeting these agencies' needs and speaking
their "language." “By this we mean addressing issues that
concern these public organizations, such as: Cost savings to departments and taxpayers, Reducing animal-related
complaint calls to police and animal control, increasing Public safety and
health” (ASPCA, n.d.).
Certainly all pet owners have rights and
no one wants to force more laws and taxes on a public that is already
overregulated. It is an ethical choice
that we make as humans to help and assist these companion animals who cannot
help themselves. Reducing the vast
number of animals would reduce cruelty from abandonment, puppy and animal mills
and animal hoarding. The author states, "Pet
overpopulation is largely due to the infrequency of spaying and neutering done
by pet owners. When a cat or dog is not spayed or neutered, the number
of offspring it can produce is astonishing. According to ASPCA statistics,
a fertile dog produces a litter of 4 to 6 puppies on average, while a fertile
cat produces 1 to 2 litters of 4
to 6 kittens per year. (Torbett, 2014).
We certainly cannot stop all unwanted dogs and cats from being born or
eliminate all cruelty to our companion animals, but we need to be
proactive. To persuade people to realize
by simply having our animals sterilized we can all do our part, small as it may
be, to help reduce the vast numbers of animals and increase both the quality of
life for the animals and the people of the community.
References
ASPCA
(2016) http://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-
statistics (Retrieved April 21, 2016)
ASPCA. (n.d.). Cost Savings
from Publicly Funded Spay/Neuter Programs. Retrieved April 22,
2016, from
http://www.aspcapro.org/resource/spay-neuter-outreach-promotion-public-
funding-
starting-program/cost-savings-publicly-funded
Spaying
/ Neutering. (2013). Retrieved April 22, 2016, from
http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care
Torbett,
E. (2014). "Spaying, neutering necessary for pets",
ProQuest Education Journal.
Kaplan Library, Publication: The
Daily Athenaeum, West
Virginia University,
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